I love a holiday and I love running. So pairing up the 2 always seems like a good idea to me. Most of the time I’ll allow Laura to pick a destination and I’ll find a race, but other times I have found races in places that I know she would like to visit in order to get my international running fix.

Whilst I am aware there are hundreds of marathons that take place every week across the world here are my personal favourites so far.

Disneyworld Marathon weekend – the Goofy Challenge.

Most people would be surprised by this race ranking in any serious runners list, but as a parent (and a lover of all things Disney) this ticked all the boxes for us. A great vacation and a well organised race with plenty of distractions to keep you entertained for 26.2 miles. I paired this marathon with a half marathon the day before (known as the Goofy Challenge) and Emily even got to take part in the diaper race at the age of 8 months. It’s definitely not a PB course as a number of the runners were out for a good time. If you are looking for a fun, less serious race then this is the one for you. Or you take on the Dopey Challenge which takes on the 5k, 10k, 1/2 marathon and marathon over the 4 day weekend.

New York City Marathon As someone who has ambitions to complete the major marathons (London, Berlin, NY, Chicago, Boston & Tokyo) New York was always going to be on my list of to do races. I had entered the international ballot for years and I was offered a place in the 2014 race. I deferred this place due to family commitments, and finally got to race it in October 2015. This is a true major which meant massive crowds, large runner numbers and impeccable organisation. The route takes you through all of the NY City boroughs and I saw more in the 26.2 miles than I did in the 5 days I’d previously spent in New York. A relatively flat course, with the toughest bits being the slight inclines onto the bridges, so this is a race with PB potential.

Dublin City Marathon

I’ve chosen this as a good race as it’s my Marathon PB. A

fter years of chasing the 4 hour marathon in London I booked this race with a friend. Dublin is a beautiful city and again, very flat. Sparse, but animated crowds motivated me more than the constant noise i’d heard in London.